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Only hours left for nurses to have their say on revised pay offer

RCN ballot on pay offer for members in England closes at 9am on 14 April, with college saying pay talks will not reopen if it is rejected
Strikers at the Royal Victoria Infirmary in Newcastle upon Tyne

RCN ballot on pay offer for members in England closes at 9am on 14 April, with college saying pay talks will not reopen if it is rejected

Strikers at the Royal Victoria Infirmary in Newcastle upon Tyne
Strikers at the Royal Victoria Infirmary in Newcastle upon Tyne Picture: John Houlihan

Nurses have less than 24 hours to have their say on the revised pay offer in England.

The RCN’s ballot closes at 9am tomorrow (Friday 14 April), with the union recommending its members to vote to accept the government’s offer of a 5% pay rise for 2023-24. It also includes a one-off payment of between £1,655 and £3,789 for 2022-23.

Meanwhile Unison, which is also recommending acceptance of the offer, will consult with members until 3pm on 14 April.

The offer is for all NHS staff in England on Agenda for Change (AfC) contracts, with ministers also making a commitment to a national safe staffing framework as part of the deal. In a separate offer to the RCN, the government agreed to consider creating a separate pay spine just for nurses.

Many call the offer a slap in the face and another real terms pay cut

On 28 March, the opening day of the vote, nurses ‘broke the internet’ after members repeatedly received error messages as the RCN website was inundated with thousands of members trying to cast their votes.

Many Nursing Standard readers have criticised the offer as a ‘slap in the face’ and pointed out that it is far lower than unions’ initial demand of an above-inflation restorative pay rise.

Others argued it would not help with recruitment or retention as it was ‘essentially another real terms pay cut’.

However, a hospital nurse writing for Nursing Standard said she was voting to accept the offer, even though she did not think it was enough, because of the exclusive pay spine.

‘A new pay spine is critical for nurses, whose expertise and experience are not properly recognised by Agenda for Change,’ she added.

As the vote closes the RCN says that if the offer is rejected, pay talks with the government will not reopen. It appears likely that rejection of the offer would mean nurses and other AfC staff would receive the 3.5% pay rise originally budgeted for 2023-24 and they might miss out on the one-off payment for 2022-23.

The college said on social media it was making it clear that the ‘fight isn’t over’ but believed the new offer would make a difference to nursing staff and patients.

RCN members can check their details and log in to vote by clicking here.


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